The Holy Court?

The King frowned.

He did not have a good impression of the Holy Court, and the Legrand royal family had had a long history of hatred with the Holy Court. So far, he had not had much experience with the Holy Court’s power himself. Once during the Rose Crisis when the Pope suddenly intervened in Legrand’s battle for the throne. And once when the Ross family of the Five Port Alliance regarded the Holy Court as their savior.

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These two times involving the Holy Court gave people the feeling that it was just going through the motions perfunctorily.

During the first time the cardinal evacuated Legrand in embarrassment, and during the second time the holy artifact that the Ross family wanted to send to the Holy Court was intercepted by the Dawson family, and the Holy Court did not even get a chance to intervene.

In these two times, the Holy Court seemed to be a dispensable piece on the board, and their power was not very obvious.

But don’t forget where the King was standing at this time.

——He was standing in front of the tombstone of William III, and the death of William III was likely to have a close relationship with the Holy Court! Would a king who had unified 36 states not be on guard against the power of the Holy Court? Of course not! So if Legrand’s central power was once again on the rise more than ten years ago, and the Legrand royal family had made sufficient preparations, yet still William III was killed under the power of the Holy Court.

Then was the power of the Holy Court really just what it showed in these two cases?

The King originally thought that they were just waiting for the coming of the Black Death, but Charles’ words caused him to feel that there might be other reasons.

“Who asked you to convey this?”

The King increased his guard against the Holy Court even more in his heart.

“You should have heard of her from Hawkins.” Charles gave the answer, “Walway’s witch.”

“Yes.”

“Before Walway accepted her, she was being pursued by the Holy Court’s inquisitors, her name is Griselda.” Charles explained in detail, “Her prophecies helped Walway avoid many times of bad luck.”

“Apart from this, is there anything else?” The King memorized the name “Griselda”, “Perhaps I can meet her.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Her state right now is special and cannot leave the ghost ship, so she could only entrust me to convey her words. Griselda can’t make an accurate interpretation of this prophecy, she can only say that it is related to the school of fish.”

It was a prophecy, not just a warning.

The King’s expression became even more serious.

School of fish…..

He subconsciously recalled the astrologer’s prophecy retold by the Devil, “…..If they come together, the dead fish will flood the illuminated continent.” The King could not judge whether the witch’s prophecy pointed to a future where the Devil would solve the Black Death or the original future.

If it was the former, then the action taken by the Holy Court might be greater than he estimated.

The King was inclined to this kind of speculation, because the Holy Court was absolutely paying attention to his recent actions.

When the Five Port Alliance was defeated, the Holy Court made no response!

No response was a response in itself.

“Actually, I have some doubts, Your Majesty.” Charles hesitated for a while and asked, “Why are you in a hurry to build a navy? Because the collapse of the Five Port Alliance caused Legrand to lose its old navy? If you are worried about Bressi…..I do not think they will launch another large-scale offense soon.”

The King came back from his thoughts, and he refuted Charles’s speculation.

Of course he knew that Bressi could not launch a second expedition in a short period of time, otherwise they would not make such a big concession at the Moon River Fortress.

“Then why?”

Charles became more puzzled.

“I can feel that your need for a navy seems very urgent.”

After the Battle of Koszoya, the King ordered the counting and numbering of the remaining armed warships belonging to the Five Port Alliance——Charles understood that the King might want to directly incorporate them into the royal battleships.

“I am afraid that it might not be easy to support a large fleet with the power of the royal family currently.” Charles tactfully advised. It seemed that with the Duke of Buckingham present, he knew the royal family’s state of being on the verge of bankruptcy very well. “If you need it, Walway is willing to work for you at any time.”

The King heard the kind intentions in Charles’s words.

“It’s not for Bressi.” He pondered for a while and replied frankly, “It is because I need to seal off the southeastern sea.”

“Seal off the sea?”

Charles looked at the King in astonishment, not having expected to hear this answer.

“Do you mean to seal off one or two ports?”

“No.” The King was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “The entire southeastern sea.”

“You…..” Charles was speechless for several minutes, but finally calmed down and said with a serious tone, “I don’t recommend you do that. No country can withstand the consequences of a sudden blockade of the sea, it will cause a total disaster.”

Sealing off the entire southeastern sea area, one didn’t even need to think about it to know how much turmoil it would cause. The commerce to and from the Abyss Strait would be completely stagnated. Legrand’s foreign exchange of goods would be terminated. Wool would not be able to be sent out, and in exchange they would not be able to obtain necessities from the other side of the Abyss Strait…..The scope of consequences was far beyond what the collapse of the Five Port Alliance could bring.

Not to mention how could small merchants with poor anti-risk capabilities survive such a big move? What about the residents who rely on selling grain to the outside world?

Charles was about to tell the King of the consequences, but the King interrupted him.

“But what if it is compared with the fact that a city of people will become a pile of dead bones in just three days? What if it is compared with at least ten thousand to fifteen thousand people dying every day? What if it is compared with the whole country overwhelmed by the same kind of disaster?” [1]

As the King asked rhetorically, Charles frowned deeply.

“The Black Death.”

The King gave the answer.

When the words “Black Death” were uttered, the air seemed to stagnate for an instant.

The gentle and elegant Charles froze for a long time and murmured: “It turns out to be like this…..no wonder you…..you have already confirmed this, haven’t you?”

Charles obviously knew better than the King how terrible the Black Death in this era was, and his tone had changed from the previous doubtfulness to solemnity.

The King nodded expressionlessly.

“This is actually the case…..Can I ask for some relevant information?” Charles bowed slightly, “I have a slight understanding of the history of the Black Death, and I may be able to offer some assistance.”

The pirates who sail the seas all year round were indeed well informed.

The King pondered for a moment, and selectively informed Charles about the Black Death. He believed that since the witch also predicted the “school of fish”, she might be able to come into use later. Moreover, sealing off the sea itself could not be separated from the help of the Walway pirates.

“I think you overlooked one thing.”

After listening, Charles pondered for a while and said slowly.

“Tell me?”

“The real Black Death outbreak time is not in January.” Charles’s blue eyes stared at the King with a serious expression, “It is very likely…..it has already begun to appear now.”

The King understood what Charles meant almost instantly.

The King got news from the Devil in October that the plague would break out four months later——that was to say, Legrand would be facing the Black Death in January. But before that, before the Black Death broke out in southeast Legrand, it should have already swept across the continent on the other side of the Abyss Strait.

Damn it.

The King understood where the problem laid.

He was deliberately misled by the Devil!

The news given by the Devil appeared to be true on the surface, but in fact it had a strong psychological suggestion——it made people feel that the Black Death swept across many countries at the same time after four months.

This was not the case. In January, many countries would indeed fall into the quagmire of the Black Death at the same time, but before that, the time when each country first became tormented with the Black Death was different.

It was a contagious plague that could spread!

That damn, lying, and insidious fraudster.

Of course, the King had never trusted the Devil, otherwise he would not have made preparations so early. But he was still affected to a certain extent by the so-called “fate line” and the Devil’s words——he had made errors in his calculations of the time.

He made his series of preparations based on the belief that the worldwide outbreak of the Black Death was in January.

It was now already the end of November.

In the King’s original plans, he still had at least a full month to make arrangements for various things.

But in fact, he didn’t have that much time.

If the Black Death had already begun to crop up at this time, then by January, the King would face a completely different international political situation from the initial outbreak of the Black Death. In fact, he must guard against the introduction of the Black Death from now on. He originally had doubts about the Devil, but now his suspicion was only raised to the highest level.

For the monarch, the most terrifying thing was having his arrangements be deviated from the original plan.

Because any of his deviations might have terrifying consequences for the entire country.

The King had to re-examine whether or not the Devil announced the arrival of the Black Death only to prevent the former commander of the Knight Templar from doing it himself?——Just like the trip in hell, the Devil probably had other motives when he announced the arrival of the Black Death…..The bone ring obtained from yesterday’s trip in hell was likely to be related to this matter.

The King’s face was suddenly shrouded in a cold chill.

Charles noticed the change in him: “Perhaps you need some overseas spies…..to monitor the situation across the Abyss Strait for you?”

This was indeed what the King needed at this time.

“The brothers of Wallway are willing to serve you, Your Majesty.”

Charles smiled faintly, as if he was not talking about sailing across the Abyss Strait to a dangerous area where the Black Death might have already appeared.

“You can rest assured that we will not stop at any port in Legrand. If someone is unfortunately infected, he will definitely not set foot on Legrand’s land.”

The King was silent for a moment: “Please be careful.”

“Don’t worry.” Charles stood up straight and smiled, “The ghost ships have their specialness.”

He said with a touch of pride.

The King probably understood why William III and the Duke of Buckingham established such a friendship with the Walway pirates.

——Because they were all the same geniuses of that era.

Charles hurriedly took his leave, preparing to lift the curse and prepare to go oversea for the King.

………………

The end of November.

A series of decrees were issued from the palace almost on the same day:

The King ordered the architect of the Lunatic Academy of Science to come for an audience as well as for the architectural professors of the Royal Academy to immediately make their way to the palace.

The King also ordered Baron Sheehan, who was forming the new army, to come to Metzl Castle immediately.

The King appointed Hawkins to officially become the admiral of the royal fleet.

The King announced the official establishment of the “Free Chamber of Commerce”.

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AN: [1] The outbreak of the Black Death in the Middle Ages can almost be equated with the apocalypse. The data in this article is not fabricated by me, but the real situation during the Black Death pandemic in history. In that era, when the epidemic was at its worst, in Cairo 10,000 to 15,000 people died every day, and Gaza lost 22,000 people and most of the animals within six weeks. The Black Death lasted very shortly once it arrived and often an entire city would die in just three days.

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